PSCI 169C - Week 2 Readings

What is the SIPS?

a. The SIPS is a semi-structured clinical interview for classifying people at low risk, people at CHR for psychosis, and people with a psychotic disorder.

b. The SIPS is a dimensional self-report measure given to clients determine the severity

c. The SIPS is a self-report measure that clients fill out and clinicians make a diagnosis based on clients’ answers

d. The SIPS is a structured interview for comorbid anxiety disorders.

a. The SIPS is a semi-structured clinical interview for classifying people at low risk, people at CHR for psychosis, and people with a psychotic disorder.

According to “Epidemiology of Schizophrenia” by Jablensky (2000), the onset of schizophrenia is typically defined as the point in time that:

a. Clinical manifestations become apparent

b. Cerebral dysfunction onsets

c. Biochemical lesions onset

d. An individual is receives treatment for the first time for the disorder.

a. Clinical manifestations become apparent

Which of the following is true in regards to sex differences in schizophrenia manifestation according to Jablensky (2000)?

a. Women tend to have worse premorbid functioning

b. Brain abnormalities less frequently occur in men

c. Schizophrenia tends to manifest earlier in men than women

d. Women have a lower percentage of remitting course of the disorder.

c. Schizophrenia tends to manifest earlier in men than women

According to Jablensky (2000), which of the following are risk factors for the development of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders later in life?

a. Perinatal brain damage

b. Early CNS infection (particularly Coxsackie B5 meningitis in the neonatal period)

c. Poor premorbid social adjustment

d. All of the above.

d. All of the above.

Which of the following are clinical high risk (CHR) syndromes that can be identified by the SIPS? 

a. Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome

b. Brief Intermittent Psychosis Syndrome

c. Genetic Risk Syndrome

d. All of the above. 

d. All of the above. 

Which of the following are often considered “positive symptoms” of psychosis?

a. Hallucinations

b. Delusions

c. Sometimes disorganization

d. All of the above

d. All of the above

What was the main conclusion of the article “Childhood Videotaped Social and Neuromotor Precursors of Schizophrenia” by Schiffman et al. (2004)?

a. Social and neuromotor deficits in children who develop schizophrenia later in life provide support for a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia

b. Social deficits and an excess of neuromotor activity in children who develop schizophrenia later in life provide support for a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia.

c. Social, but not neuromotor, behaviors in children who develop schizophrenia later in life provide support for a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia.

d. Neuromotor, but not social, behaviors in children who develop schizophrenia later in life provide support for a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia. 

a. Social and neuromotor deficits in children who develop schizophrenia later in life provide support for a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia

Jablensky (2000) reported a few “unexplained findings,” including finding higher rates of schizophrenia among immigrant populations, individuals born in urban environments, and those born in the winter and spring.

a. True

b. False

a. True

Which of the following statements is false based on the reading “Categorical versus dimensional approaches of early psychosis” by Phalen et al. (2021)? 

a. Categorical measures and dimensional measures proved to be equivalent in predictiveness of functional outcomes for clients.

b. Dimensional measures of psychosis symptom severity were a better predictor of functional outcomes than categorical approaches.

c. Categorical approaches do have benefits as diagnoses are currently critical for insurance coverage

d. A dimensional approach can inform treatment decisions for people with psychosis and can be used to track fluctuations in symptom severity over time. 

a. Categorical measures and dimensional measures proved to be equivalent in predictiveness of functional outcomes for clients.

What is one disadvantage of embracing a categorical rather than a dimensional approach to psychosis as proposed by Phalen et al. (2021)? 

a. A person may not exhibit all symptoms associated with a categorical diagnosis

b. Categorical diagnoses can cause stigma

c. Diagnoses are not conducive of biogenetic explanations.

d. All of the above.

d. All of the above

Which of the following is a type of hallucination an individual can experience?

a. Visual hallucinations

b. Auditory hallucinations

c. Tactile hallucinations

d. All of the above.

d. All of the above.

What is the WHO-Ten Country study? (Jablensky, 2000)

A study by the World Health Organization which examined incidence and symptoms of schizophrenia across different countries.

What was one of the key findings of the WHO-Ten Country study?  (Jablensky, 2000)

63% of patients with schizophrenia in developing countries experienced complete remission, compared with only about 37% of patients in developed countries

NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule

The National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule is a structured interview that used to assess mental health disorders according to the DSM.

What does Jablensky (2000) say about the DIS regarding schizophrenia?

The DIS is reliable for diagnosing schizophrenia, but validity is poor for detecting psychosis symptoms.

True/False: Does genetic vulnerability play an important role in the causation of schizophrenia? (Jabelnsky, 2000)

True

What is the twin concordance between monozygotic and dizygotic twins with schizophrenia?

Twin concordance: ~50% (monozygotic), 10–15% (dizygotic).

Polygenic

A trait/characteristic that is controlled by one or more genes.

What is the main purpose of the article on categorical versus dimensional models of early psychosis? (Phalen et al. 2021)

The main purpose of the article is to determine which approach to identifying early signs of psychosis is more predictive for clinical purposes; categorical approach or dimensional (symptom severity) approach

According to Phalen et al. (2021) is the categorical approach or the dimensional approach to early signs of psychosis better? Why?

• The dimensional approach; The prognosis for symptom severity and prediction of social and role functioning is more accurate than the categorical approach

What is the main purpose of the article on Childhood Videotaped social and Neuromotor Precursors of Schizophrenia: A Prospective Investigation by Schiffman et al. (2004)?

The purpose of the article is to determine if social deficits found in children are early predictive markers of schizophrenia; done by conducting a longitudinal study

True/False: Both boys and girls showed an equal amount of general neuromotor signs, predicting the onset of schizophrenia. (Schiffman et al. 2004)

False; Boys showed higher rates of general neuromotor signs